Reunited
by Ravenclaw-Earl of Storybrooke
Summary: A scene wherein Hook escorts Cora from her captivity to Regina's vault. Set during 5x19, "Sisters" (AKA the best episode ever!). Please favorite and review!


A scene wherein Hook escorts Cora from her captivity to Regina's vault.

Author's Note: I could not have asked for a better episode of _Once Upon A Time_ than "Sisters." It had all of my favorite characters (Cora, Hades, Cruella, Zelena, Regina), it had the Mills family reunion that I've always craved, and it shed light (no pun intended) on what I have always theorized: Cora would have been a very different person and mother with her heart. I am beyond thrilled at her final fate. Of course, the Zelena/Cora reunion got the spotlight, but I wish we could have seen a little more of Cora with her former partner-in-crime, Kilian Jones. Here is how I think that lost scene would have played out. If you feel so led, please favorite and review!

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Hook stood cautiously in the doorway of the Underbrooke Library. Looking from side to side, he determined that the coast was clear.

"Come on, Cora," he beckoned, and surely enough, Cora followed him into the reddish daylight of the Underworld.

"I never thought I would be so happy to see this place," she said with a sardonic smile.

"I'm sure," Hook said in a bored-sounding tone. "Let's get you to Regina."

"Just a moment!" Cora insisted. Taking a deep breath, she waved her hand over herself, magically transforming the rags that Hades trapped her in into a tasteful, black pantsuit.

Hook took a moment to smile and chuckle. "Still stuck on Storybrooke fashion?"

Cora pursed her lips coyly, following the pirate towards Regina's vault. "Yes, if you must know. After wearing all of those heavy gowns in the Enchanted Forest, these clothes are very comfortable. Besides, it looks like you've changed your wardrobe as well."

Hook looked at his own outfit and realized that, since he last saw Cora, he had done away with his black, leather overcoat in favor of a more Storybrooke-esque jacket and pants. "I guess that my time in Storybrooke has made me a new man," he smiled, half to Cora and half to himself.

Cora raised her eyebrows knowingly. "Oh, yes? It's not like my captain to be cryptic."

Hook looked sideways at his old friend. "It's not like you to be nosy… Actually, yes it is, love."

Cora waved the insult away. "So who is the lucky lady who has softened your heart?"

"Emma Swan."

To Hook's surprise, Cora smiled widely and took his hand. "I knew it!"

"You knew nothing!" Hook pulled his hand away like an embarrassed teenager confronted with a doting parent.

"Perhaps not," Cora laughed. "But I thought that there might be something there. Remember when we trapped her and her friends in Rumplestiltskin's cell?"

"Aye," Hook nodded.

"The incensed diatribe that you spewed at her made me think that you had developed feelings for her. And at Lake Nostos, it seemed like you were holding back when you were fighting with her."

"You're probably right about that," Hook acknowledged.

Cora beamed. "I'm glad you found love, Hook. It really has changed you for the better."

"I don't know about that," Hook said as they made their way towards the edge of town. "Before I died, I did some horrible, unforgivable things. As the Dark One, I tried to send Emma and everyone she loved down here."

"Didn't you die saving them?" Cora asked.

Hook grimaced. "Aye, but that doesn't make up for the fact that I'm the one who put them in that position in the first place. I was a fool."

Cora grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face her, stopping their march towards the vault. "My dear friend, we've both been fools in the past. You and I have made terrible decisions over the course of our long lives. We were fools, but that doesn't mean that we have to continue to be fools. Look at us! I'm on my way to help Regina, who is in league with people who I once swore to destroy. You earned the love of someone who was once your enemy. It's not too late for us, Hook."

The corners of Hook's mouth twitched as though he was holding back a smile. "Thank you, Cora." He didn't want to admit it, but he was glad to reunite with his old traveling companion. Cora understood him in a way that Emma, Regina, and the Charmings often did not. She had tasted darkness too, but unlike Regina, she always seemed more understanding of the pirate's plight.

The pair didn't talk much for the rest of the walk, but they did silently take stock of each other. Hook was pleased to sense that Cora no longer carried a callous aura that had once made her quite intimidating. Cora was now convinced that beneath all of Hook's bravado was a truly good, if flawed, man.

They neared the graveyard containing Regina's vault.

"This is your stop, love," Hook announced casually.

"Thank you," Cora bowed her head towards her friend. "Hades won't be happy when he finds out I got free. He'll be even angrier when he learns that you were the one who sprung me."

"I'm not worried," Hook said. "I have the Savior on my side. I think you'll be fine as well."

"That may be, but if it isn't, I just want you to know how glad I was to see you again."

Hook smiled, less sarcastically than usual. "You really have gone soft, Cora."

"Perhaps I have," Cora chuckled, extending her arms towards the pirate and holding him in a short embrace. "Goodbye, Kilian Jones."

She turned and walked into Regina's vault, looking back to smile at him one last time.

THE END

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Author's Note: Writing this gave me a sense of closure for Cora and Hook. I hope, if you desired such a thing, that it gave you a similar satisfaction. If you enjoyed this story, please favorite and review it, and check out some of my other creations. Thank you for reading!


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